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Our democracy isn’t working. It’s stuck in a 20th-century rut.

Our climate is in crisis, corporations ride roughshod over democracy and right-wing populism takes root in our society. It is time for a different relationship between people, civil society and the state - one that recognises the challenges, opportunities and threats of our times.

It is time for a very different kind of democracy.

This means more than a few tweaks to the existing democratic system: we need a fundamental recasting of relationship with power, defined as the ability to act. Can we fix our broken electoral system? And can the state stop doing change to people and start to work with them, in service of its citizens and civil society?

To discuss this critical issue, Lisa Nandy, MP for Wigan, former Shadow Cabinet member and founder of the Centre for Towns will kick off the debate. There will then be responses from Councillor Sean Fielding, Leader of Oldham Council, Neil McInroy from the Centre for Local Economic Strategies and more speakers soon to be announced...Compass' own Frances Foley will be in the Chair. Then it will be over to you to discuss and debate!

This event forms part of a series on 21st Century power, which kicked off in London in September; now we are bringing the discussion to Manchester to see what local power looks like from here.

With a radical democratic history - from Peterloo to the Pankhursts - Manchester has always been a city which drives political change. Now, with a new Mayor, more devolved powers and a network of radical councils, the Greater Manchester region could help usher in a new era of democratisation. How can we bring democratic institutions together with more powerful and active citizens to shape the 21st Century?

The event will inform the thinking behind the Common Platform - the Compass-inspired project to transform our democracy and draw it into the 21st century.

Please come along and join in the debate - it's free to attend and all are welcome!